50 War Memorials Listed to Mark Armistice Day

Listings include memorial researched and nominated by Yorkshire schoolchildren and a winged figure designed by the sister of Major Geoffrey Brooke Parnell who fell at the Battle of the Somme

Historic England asks the public to nominate their memorial for listing to help reach the target of 2,500 First World War memorials listed during the centenary

To mark Armistice Day Historic England announces the listing of 50 war memorials across the country.

The listings are the latest in our pledge to protect 2,500 memorials by 2018, marking the centenary of the First World War.

The memorials are recognised for their historic and architectural importance and have been listed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.

From a winged figure designed by a children’s illustrator in memory of her brother to a series of monuments on land bequeathed to the National Trust, these memorials are a poignant, physical reminder of the sacrifices and loss the First World War brought about.

Thanks to pupils at Thornton Primary School in Bradford, among the newly listed memorials is Thornton memorial; the memorial was researched and recorded by the Year Five class and put forward for listing as part of Historic England’s Heritage Schools initiative.

Communities across the country were devastated by the conflict overseas and the effect of war at home. Our memorials are a record of the huge impact of the war across all levels of society. Each monument reveals another facet of the Great War: from TNT explosions in Silvertown, East London to the important role of a West Lancashire estate in receiving horses from all over the world to prepare to face the front line.

Roger Bowdler, Director of Listing at Historic England, said: “One hundred years on, it is time to come together again to ensure our memorials are in good condition, and properly recognised by listing. This is all part of a wider partnership we have forged with War Memorials Trust, Civic Voice and the Imperial War Museums to help communities discover, care for and conserve their local war memorials. They will gain a place on the National Heritage List for England to tell the story of this country’s sacrifice and struggle.”

Tracey Crouch, Heritage Minister, said: "The First World War affected every community across the country, and local memorials are integral to honouring the memory of those who served. “As we continue to commemorate the centenary of the war, it is only right that we protect memorials across the country so future generations never forget the sacrifices that were made.”

Recently Listed War Memorials

The memorial to Major Geoffrey Brooke Parnell (1882-1916) at Holy Trinity Church in Guildford in 1922 was designed as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by him, the officers and men of the 1st Battalion of the Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment who fell at High Wood on 15 July 1916 in the Battle of the Somme. It is a bronze sculpture of Parnell as a winged saint on a stone inscribed plinth, and was designed by his sister the author and children's illustrator, Edith Farmiloe.

Across the country around 50,000 hectares of National Trust land serve as war memorials in addition to 170 traditional monuments. There are eight memorials on National Trust land dedicated to two brothers, Norman and Laurance Robertson. Norman died in 1917 in Germany and Laurance at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Their surviving older brother William left a bequest to the National Trust for land to be bought “within reasonably easy distance from London” as a memorial to them. As a result there are nine different memorial sites; eight markers are obelisks with dedicatory plaques, the ninth is a wall plaque. You can search the National Trust online map for more information on all the different landscapes and memorials under their care.

As part of Historic England’s Heritage Schools project, children were invited to put their local war memorials forward for listing. Through research and condition surveys Year Five pupils from Thornton Primary School discovered that their imposing memorial is impressive for a small village such as Thornton. Made of Yorkshire stone, it has a bronze figure of victory and peace and its head is bowed holding wreaths outward in each hand. It was unveiled in what was reported as an impressive ceremony in the presence of thousands of people in 1922.

This memorial, flanked by stone lions, was designed by the architect Darcy Braddell. During the First World War Brunner, Mond and Co manufactured half the high explosives used on every front, at lower profit than offered by the Government. 2,688 of their employees served in the War, and 291 perished. This included sixteen men and two women who were killed in a huge TNT explosion at the Silvertown works in London, who are also commemorated on the Silvertown memorial. The Brunner Mond name lives on as a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals Ltd.

This simple memorial was given by the Earl of Lathom and commemorates those who attended the nearby chapel or lived on his estate, Lathom Park. The estate played a key role during the First World War as the place where horses and mules were prepared for their duties on the front line. Horses came to West Lancashire from all over the world through the Port of Liverpool and War Office statistics indicate that between September 1914 and November 1917, 215,000 horse and mules passed through Lathom Park.